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Your Cropping Style?
When it comes to cropping, what's your style? Do you shoot to crop, meaning that you intentionally leave space around your subject to crop out later, or do you crop while you shoot by framing the subject in the veiwfinder just like you'd want it if it were to be printed? Nov 26 08 07:26 am Link Kreative Phokus wrote: I learned that it's better to shoot to crop. That way you don't lose anything important to the customer. Nov 26 08 07:30 am Link Wish I'd studied up on printing sooner than I did, I'd have kept cropping in mind at the time of shooting. Nov 26 08 07:53 am Link I'm definitely shoot to crop. Better to have more and crop later then regret and wish I would move across a bit more. Nov 26 08 07:58 am Link I crop in camera as much as possible. Shooting to crop later is just a bullshit excuse for not having to learn how to compose an image. Nov 26 08 08:00 am Link Always shoot to crop but still hold strong regard for general composition within the frame Nov 26 08 08:01 am Link I crop while I shoot. I regret it sometimes. Nov 26 08 08:03 am Link VisualRamblings wrote: +1 Nov 26 08 08:03 am Link I crop in camera most of the time. However, I do leave some room on the outer edges of the picture if I know the client will be wanting a bunch of 8x10s. The additional space is what I crop out when I go to make the print. So the extra room for me isn't an excuse for bad compositions, it's a way to make sure I don't cut out anything important when I go to print 8x10s. Nov 26 08 08:06 am Link It depends on the format I'm shooting and my intended printing methods. Shooting 4x5 and doing an alt-process contact print, I know everything on the neg is going to be in the final print, so I come in tight. When I'm shooting 35mm and planning to do a b/w print, I keep in mind the aspect ratio of the paper I'll be printing on and leave some extra room. Do what you need to get what you want. Nov 26 08 08:08 am Link I think about the image when I'm actually making the image. I look closely at the composition in the viewfinder and try to scan the edges of the image before I trip the shutter. Sometimes cropping after the fact is a necessity, but if you're crafting your images you should be thinking about them when you make them. Would a sculptor leave a chunk of marble on in case he decided to add something later? Nov 26 08 08:08 am Link I donât have any cropping style and rarely crop my pictures. Nov 26 08 08:10 am Link I crop in camera for most shooting......Only time I shoot to crop is when Im doing famliy portraits....they are mainly use to getting 8x10s. Nov 26 08 08:11 am Link VisualRamblings wrote: Right, unless you need to make 8x10s or some other off aspect ratio prints.... Nov 26 08 08:11 am Link i crop in the viewfinder.... Nov 26 08 08:12 am Link If you are shooting professionally for magazines, you have to leave room. The editors will want the space to make your pictures conform to their layouts. I was trained as a film director to shoot exactly the frame I want - but it has caused me problems when I've turned over images to clients. Now I force myself to leave room. This is kind of a professional photography 101 thing. Edit: Just read Doug above me. I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing then... Nov 26 08 08:14 am Link James Kassanoff wrote: I COMPLETELY agree...sometimes I have a certain look in mind but it gets better in the post-production... Nov 26 08 08:14 am Link Not sure why one would want to limit oneself to the aspect ratio of the camera. In reference to the sculpting metaphor, I see it thusly: camera= chisels neg= block of marble print= finished sculpture Nov 26 08 08:15 am Link VisualRamblings wrote: Not necessarily some folks like 8x10s when my cameras specs to 8x12? Nov 26 08 08:16 am Link Depends on what the usage is going to be. If I am shooting a possible cover I shoot some with room for the masthead and gutter. I try to crop in camera as much as possible -- but when I shoot groups I leave enough space around the edges for a crop. For portfolio use I print 8 x 12's anyway. With portrait clients I give the option of bumping up the print size at my discretion ( I just charge for an 8 x10). Best, Christine Nov 26 08 08:19 am Link James Kassanoff wrote: BINGO! I would add no more than 20% crop while keeping in mind the output (print) size. Nov 26 08 08:20 am Link I never shoot to crop. I try to get the final image in the viewfinder. Nov 26 08 08:22 am Link VisualRamblings wrote: I agree. Nov 26 08 08:22 am Link You should always crop in the camera. There are several skill levels that a photographer achieves on their way to being a truely skilled photographer (as in taking a picture with a camera.....not creating one on the computer). One of those levels is being able to frame your image in the camera. It goes hand in hand with developing ones personal style. The only exception is when you are shooting portraits where you know the images will be getting printed 5x7, 8x10 or 11x14. If you crop in the camera then something (or someone) will get cut out when reducing height or width of image to print. Nov 26 08 08:26 am Link VisualRamblings wrote: Not if you're shooting for a client who need flexibility. Also, anytime you shoot a magazine cover you need extra space for design flexibility. Nov 26 08 08:28 am Link I compose in camera.. but I'm never afraid to change my mind and crop during post. Sometimes I decide I want to change the focus (EDIT: the compositional focus.. not the actual focus of the image) or composition.. sometimes I just don't like the decision I made during shooting and a new decision rescues the image. Sometimes I'll shoot specifically for square cropping.. sometimes I'll shoot specifically for weird aspects (ie really tall or really wide). In the end.. I couldn't care less what the negative looks like (in terms of cropping).. I care about the final image. Of course, I don't shoot slides (anymore) .. those are a different beast altogether. Nov 26 08 08:32 am Link I crop in camera. I learned photography with a 4X5. Careful composition and previsualization of the final print are the process. You compose more like a painter does. I also find 35mm to be woefully small and cropping makes the prints you can make smaller. Digitally these attitudes have carried over. I guess if I had 20MP instead of 12 I'd shoot looser than I do. Nov 26 08 08:34 am Link Apfel Photography wrote: Canon, and others I'm sure, make focusing screens with crop lines. Some even have masks so all you see is the aspect ratio chosen when you installed the screen. Nov 26 08 08:37 am Link Apfel Photography wrote: Let's not confuse composition with cropping and skill level. Given, some people are not very good with composition, so it does not matter one bit how they crop, if at all. Some folks want their images to have the same aspect ratio all the time (boooring). But while I understand how an editor may dictate what sort of cropping they require, as an artist I sometimes I like to go off-aspect for a certain shot. Not everything I shoot I want to fit in s store-bought frame. Much of my stuff needs to be custom framed. I feel the same way about drawing, painting and sculpting... no bounds please. Nov 26 08 08:37 am Link VisualRamblings wrote: Yeah, real photographers only work in the same aspect ratio as their camera produces. No one wants 8x10 or 5x7 images! Nov 26 08 08:37 am Link James Kassanoff wrote: An interesting interpretation. Nov 26 08 08:38 am Link Honestly, I fail to see the difference, unless shooting to crop means ultimately the shooter will only use a small portion of the exposed image in final print. Cropping in camera always takes into consideration how the final image will be presented. There are rare exceptions where the entire frame will be used in print! Those exceptions invariably involve sheet film images. So, I always crop in camera. Sometimes a little too tight!  John Nov 26 08 08:38 am Link I always try to compose my images the way that I want them to look in camera. The less I have to do in post the better. I sometimes crop after the fact, but I usually capture the image the way I want it. My camera is 4/3 format so I don't worry as much about prints as you might with 3/2 format. When I shoot weddings and portraits I try to leave a little extra room on the long side to accommodate different sized prints. Nov 26 08 08:40 am Link Le Beck Photography wrote: There may be other SLR's that allow this, but the new Olympus e-30 will allow you to select different aspect ratios in camera: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_secti … duct=1430. Nov 26 08 08:43 am Link David M Russell wrote: Unless your talking cheesy video, that would be 1/24th of a second. Nov 26 08 08:46 am Link I guess everyone is different when it comes to cropping. It really varies w/me, sometimes i crop & sometimes i dont. Nov 26 08 08:47 am Link VisualRamblings wrote: Perfect response and one I couldn't agree more with, When I was in art school in the early 90's cropping was forbidden. I was told by a very successful wealthy photographer that "Cropping is for farmers" Nov 26 08 08:47 am Link 
Photographer Posts: 468 Dumont d'Urville - permanent station of France, Sector claimed by France, Antarctica Whether in the viewfinder, on the enlarger or on the computer screen, I crop using the principle of Occam's Razor. See my recent blog on the subject: http://alienphotography.blogspot.com Nov 26 08 08:53 am Link Kevin Russo wrote: So then I assume if shooting a magazine cover you always shoot 120 film in 6x7? Nov 26 08 08:54 am Link I crop like crazy after the fact, in fact I make take a second virtual copy in lightroom and crop it differently, never stifle your creativity, because you want to stick to silly rules! Oh and yes I do that most awfull thing, I even rotate some of them!!! Nov 26 08 08:57 am Link |
